Health & Medical Treatment

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia inmate won more than $1 million in a malpractice suit against prison medical staff he accused of improperly treating his broken finger, saying he still feels the effects....[more]

?Virginia’s prison system faces a $45 million shortfall in inmate health care through next year, even as the corrections department bears the brunt of the latest round of cuts in the two-year state budget.

The shortfall emerged this year after a private company that had provided health care to inmates at 17 prisons in hard-to-serve areas ended its contract with the state at the end of September, according to Department of Corrections Director Harold Clarke in a presentation Monday to the House Appropriations Committee....[more]

It is disturbing but telling that the person who has overseen the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons for the ninth-longest tenure in history says the criminal justice system is broken....[more]

When her son was incarcerated 12 years ago, Carla Peterson of Vienna became acquainted with the Virginia prison system. "My son is now an engineer working in Manassas," said Peterson, who declined to give the reason for his former ......[more]

Prison Life & Culture

The fruits of spending four months, day in and day out, in the Fairfax County jail were unveiled Saturday night when “Lockup: Fairfax” premiered on MSNBC. The show did a fine job capturing slices of life in a jail in one of America’s wealthiest counties, particularly in portraying the professionalism of the deputies here, but it will be interesting to see how deeply they dig into the one issue that bedevils corrections officials everywhere: mental health. It was hinted at in Episode One, but we’ll see how far they go. Some viewers also expressed concerns about the exploitation aspect of the show. It’s a legitimate concern....[more]

Alfredo Prieto has been convicted of murdering three people, raping two of them, and DNA or ballistics link him to another six homicides and two rapes. That is nine slayings in a little more than two years. Four of his victims were in Northern Virginia. He is one of the “great” unrecognized serial killers of our time. Yet a recent Supreme Court ruling has revived the prospect that he could avoid the three death sentences he currently faces, because his defense raised the possibility that he was intellectually disabled, and the news media have begun discussing Prieto as a serious candidate for post-conviction relief. Specifically, Virginia law...[more]

RICHMOND - Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell could restore the voting rights of 10,000 nonviolent ex-felons by the end of his term - nearly twice as many as he has granted in 3½ years in office, administration officials said Monday....[more]

Riots, Lockdowns & Escapes

WEYERS CAVE, Va. (AP) - A Virginia inmate who escaped while on work release is back in custody. The Virginia Department of Corrections says the U.S. Marshals Service captured 44-year-old Karan Batra in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening. ......[more]